Rebuttals - specifc

BiteClaiming that 'Earth isn't warming, because 2008 was cooler than 1998' is like saying 'Spring isn't happening, because April 15th was cooler than April 1!' To see the long term trend, you have to look at all the data.

Bite"Some say, 'Climate is always changing due to natural cycles. So it can't be us doing it.'
That's like saying 'People die from natural causes. So there can't be murder!' Any good crime investigator must develop expertise on natural causes of death, so he can distinguish it from foul play. Sam...

Bite"Science isn't "yes or no." Science is gradually reducing uncertainty. Consider gravity. We know gravity with a fairly high degree of understanding but there are still little areas of gravity theory that scientists are still arguing about exactly how it works. But just because scientists don't h...

BiteMitigation costs too much? This is like saying 'fixing the dodgy brakes on my car costs too much, so I'm going to ignore the problem.' The consequence will likely be a wrecked car, and you in hospital, broke and suffering. Mitigation is expensive, but not doing it will be far more so.

BiteRenewables too expensive? Navy Secy. Mabus: "Every new technology is more expensive. What if we hadn’t started using computers because they were more expensive than typewriters? What if we hadn't started using cell phones because they were more expensive than land lines? Where would we be?"

Bite"Let me address the argument that CO2 is benign because we exhale it. That's about as good an argument as saying a tsunami isn't dangerous because we drink water."—
-- Rep. Jay Inslee at a 2011 committee hearing

Bite"People across the northern hemisphere are facing the fact that a warming planet doesn't get rid of winter ... now is a good time to remind ourselves that weather, like death and taxes, will always be with us." — Robert Henson, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

BiteTelling the inhabitants of a coral that island that they're safe because sea level won't rise, is like a doctor telling a smoker, "stop worrying, you aren't going to die of lung cancer", while knowing full well that they're doomed to die from a coronary thrombosis.
Ocean acidification (OA) and b...

BiteOne man's personal choices tell you nothing about the validity of the science. It's like saying, "Louis Pasteur sometimes neglected to wash before meals, so that proves that bacteria don't cause disease."

Bite"When we look at the last 4 decades, we've seen 0.5°C global warming. Some people say, 'well that's not much!' Then I tell them to think of their bodies: 2°C extra and you'd have a fever. An extra 4°C and you'd be dead!"—Prof. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber.

Bite"...97–98% of the climate researchers most actively publishing in the field support the tenets of ACC [anthropogenic climate change] outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change..." —Anderegg, Prall, Harold, & Schneider (PNAS, 2010).

BiteCold winter in Europe, but warm in Siberia. So this disproves AGW? That's like saying: 'My keys were in my jacket, now they're not. That proves they're lost. (But have you checked your other coat? your pants?)

BiteWhen CC walks his dog, he moves in a straight line, but his dog, TC, tugs on the leash and wanders right and left. TC is Temperature Change (short term variance) and his owner, CC, is Climate Change (long term trend). Of course, they both arrive at the same destination.

Bite"Blaming La Nina for the record drought is like blaming the car engine for the speeding ticket. See what happens when the driver steps on the gas?" - Hunter Cutting, Director of Strategic Communications at Climate Nexus

Bite"I do not want the government telling me what to do. But, the longer we wait, the worse this problem gets...then you are going to see a lot of government interventions that you do not want to see at all." — Naomi Oreskes.

BiteHuman's aren't the first species to alter the atmosphere; that distinction belongs to cyanobacteria, (blue-green algae) which, some two billion years ago, invented photosynthesis. But we are the first species to be in a position to understand what we are doing.

BiteHave you ever stood on a beach and watched the tide coming in?
The long-term trend (the water level steadily rising) is hidden behind short-term variability (the size of waves washing up the beach).

Bite"This generation has altered the composition of the atmosphere on a global scale through...a steady increase in carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels." - President Lyndon Johnson, special message to Congress, February 8, 1965.

BiteSure, the climate always changes—just like asteroids have always hit the Earth. But does that mean that a big asteroid hitting the Earth today would not have a serious impact on human civilisation, just like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs, 65m years ago?

BiteGalileo championed the idea that Earth revolves around the sun, but some of his evidence was later proven wrong. Today, peer review and consensus are how science errors get corrected. "People who say science is not about consensus, do not understand science."

Bite"The odds that natural variability created these [recent weather] extremes are minuscule... To count on those odds would be like quitting your job and playing the lottery every morning to pay the bills."—Dr. James Hansen, NASA

Bite"(Climate Change) is ultimately an argument of humans vs. physics. It is not Republicans vs. Democrats, liberals vs conservatives, or environmentalists vs. industry. This issue is about whether the planet can live compatibly with our complex human brains." - Bill McKibben, climate activist and fou...

Bite“It’s a bit like asking us to believe in Santa Claus after we have seen our parents putting the presents under the tree.” – Naomi Oreskes, Professor of Science History at the University of Califormia (San Diego)

Bite'No warming in 15 years' is like arguing your car is broken down because it hasn't moved in the 15 seconds while you stopped at a red light.' — Dana Nuccitelli, an environmental scientist at a private environmental consulting firm in the Sacramento, California area.

Bite"What’s more socialist than American taxpayers subsidizing the fossil industry while they fleece our wallets? Perhaps Exxon should be renamed The People’s Oil Company of America." — Richard Whiteford, Environmental Communications Consultant in Downingtown, Pa.

Bite'When you focus on just atmospheric heat to measure global warming, it's like tracking the tip of your dog’s tail to determine its location, instead of the body of the dog.' — Greg Laden, biological anthropologist and science communicator.

Bite“Taking 1998 as the starting year is a joke. Why not 1997 or 1999? Anyone doing this gets an ‘F’ grade in introductory statistics.” — Pieter Tans, a climate scientist who worked on the 2013 IPCC report.

Bite'Yes, the climate changed before. That's called an observation, but a scientist’s role is to explain why it changed before and now. — Peter Hadfield, retired British journalist and creator of popular science YouTube channel Potholer54,

Bite“Every great scientific truth goes thru three phases: 1st people deny it, 2nd they say it conflicts with the Bible, 3rd they say they knew it all along.” — Neil deGrasse Tyson, American astrophysicist and science communicator.

Bite'Certain gases trap heat in our atmosphere...Anyone who tells you that's uncertain is either very confused or they're lying.' — Naomi Oreskes, Professor of Science History at the University of Califormia (San Diego)

Bite‘Looking at sea ice and not total ice is like your high school football team winning their game, but your NFL team loses the Super Bowl.’ — Ted Scambos, Glaciologist at University of Colorado's National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Bite‘If we can’t hold our politicians accountable, then we need to ask the British Monarchy come back because our experience in self governance failed.’
- Rep Bob Inglis responding to claim our elected leaders cannot be trusted to properly implement a carbon tax.

Bite“I’m not a scientist either but I can use my brains and I can talk to one.” – former Florida Governor Charlie Crist in July 2014 responding to Florida Gov. Rick Scott's line, “I’m not a scientist.”

Bite‘If I have one message, it is that climate change is not a scientific debate. Its a political debate being made to look like a scientific debate.’ – Dr. Naomi Oreskes, Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University.

Bite‘People often say: ‘Earth was warmer in the past with carbon dioxide levels higher than today’ Yes, there is a recent movie called Jurassic World. Would you like to go see it?’ – Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, climate scientist and associate professor of political science at Texas Tech University.

Bite‘Scientists are often accused of being alarmists. However, an examination of scientific literature shows that scientists have been underestimating the risks. Instead of being drama queens, climate scientists are like anti-drama kings.‘ – Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, climate scientist and associate professo...

Bite‘Ask your Congressperson: Which number is bigger: $30 a ton carbon tax or $200 in health benefits from avoided mortality and hospitalizations from every ton of CO2 that you remove.’ – Dr. Jonathan Patz, Director of the Global Health Institute.